I was as nervous as could be.

It was a good thing that I’d invited her for movies, and not, say, dinner at a fancy restaurant. Movies were a date staple, it’s hard to go wrong with that. But I was still scared of making a mistake. What kind of movie would she like? What if I picked something awful and she hated me for it? Or what if we arrived at the theater and there were no good options at all?

I reached into my pocket for my phone and tapped at the screen. The black screen stared back at me, unresponsive. Of course. It was still powered off, to avoid Michael, and I hadn’t remembered to get myself a new number just yet. Crap.

Then I remembered Amelia’s emergency phone... But no, I couldn’t. This was no emergency. At all.

And yet...

...

The call connected.

“Hello,” said the woman on the other side of the line. “What’s wrong, Mel?”

I stuttered, embarrassed. “It’s... it’s Hannah, actually.”

Janis was understandably surprised. “Hannah? What... this is Amelia’s phone, right? Is she there with you? Did something happen?”

“No, nothing like that,” I admitted. “She... lent me her phone, for the time being. It’s kind of a long story.”

“Don’t worry about that,” said Janis. “Do you need help with something? Is that why you called?”

“Actually...” I took a deep breath. “...can you tell me what kinds of movies Amelia likes?”

The line went mute for a few seconds, and I feared Janis might have hung up on me.

“What, really?” she said, at last. I could hear her smile in those words. “Goodness, you had me worried there, for a moment, I really thought there was an emergency going on. But if it’s just movies... well, I know she’s fond of dramas. You know those romantic stories where someone dies at the end? That’s what she usually goes for.”

I winced. Dramas? I almost never watched any of those. The only movie I ever remembered watching that fit Janis’ description was Titanic, and I’m pretty sure we weren’t going to find that one screening. Oh, shit. If that’s how it was, I really wouldn’t be able to pick a good movie for us to watch.

“Anything else?” I asked, hopeful.

“Yeah, dog movies,” Janis replied. “She loves dogs.”

I giggled. Amelia had told me as much, on our first date.

Janis seemed to catch on to the meaning of my phone call. “But seriously, though, Hannah,” she said, “if you and Amelia are going to watch a movie together, you really don’t have to worry about the genre. She’s the kind of person who’ll be fine with whatever you pick. I make her watch trashy zombie movies and Disney animations with me, every now and then, and she always looks like she’s having a lot of fun. I think it’s more about the company than the movie, for her.”

“Is that so?” I asked, considerably more relieved now.

“Yep,” said Janis. “So... you girls going on a second date, then?”

I felt my cheeks flush. “You know about that?”

“Mel told me about the first one. I can’t believe she took you to that dingy old windmill. That thing’s a safety hazard, ya know?”

“Hey! I thought it was cute!” I protested, making her laugh.

“Whatever floats your boat, Hannah.” I heard a noise on the other side of the line, like something crashing. “Oh, shit,” said Janis, “I really need to hang up now. I’ll talk to you later. Good luck on your date.”

Janis ended the call, and I stood still for a moment, thinking of what to do next. That conversation had really helped me feel a little more at ease about our Saturday date. I was still afraid of screwing up horribly somehow, but this was probably just my normal everyday anxiety. I dropped Amelia’s emergency phone back into my bag, and sat down on the bed, silently whispering a prayer to God — or whatever deity was out there looking over humanity — asking for a little luck.

I had some trouble falling asleep that night. I don’t usually get insomnia, so I knew that this was simply anxiety for meeting Amelia the next day. As a result, I woke up on Saturday feeling a little under the weather. I made myself coffee, which usually helped, and sat down to work on a paper for macroeconomics, a subject which was as broad as it was boring. I liked looking at things on the bright side, but the only bright side I could see of studying macroeconomics was knowing that whatever major I eventually chose to transfer to, it certainly wasn’t going to be economics.

Usually, when I started working on an assignment for college, I would prefer to do it without any distractions. Stopping to cook myself food would certainly be a big distraction, so always I ended up asking for delivery in these situations.

I was halfway through my mildly-comprehensive comparison of fiscal policy strategies across Central America, when I heard the doorbell ring.

“Coming,” I said, annoyed. I opened the door to find Lydia standing on the corridor outside, staring at me weird. “What’s wrong, Ly?”

Lydia gave a once-over, and grimaced. “Well, at least we’ve got time,” she said, not caring to elaborate further. She walked into the apartment, and dropped a few bags on the couch. I was about to go back to my assignment, when she reached for my laptop on the table and pushed the lid closed.

“Hey, I was working on that,” I protested.

“Correct. You were. Now you’re not. Go take a shower, Hannah, you need to start getting ready for your date.”

I glanced at the clock on the wall. “But it’s not even five yet.”

“No buts,” said Lydia, pushing me toward the bathroom door. “You don’t wanna make Amelia wait for you, or do you?”

She shut the bathroom door, locking me inside. I laughed. “You know, Ly, if you worried about college as much as you do about dates and stuff, I bet you’d be at the top of your class, right now.”

“I can’t hear the shower,” she shouted from the living room.

I shrugged, and started to undress. There were few people in this world who could be as obstinate and stubborn as Lydia. I showered, wrapped myself in a towel, and walked outside to find Ly in my bedroom, spreading half of my clothes on the bed.

“I’m sorry, did a hurricane hit while I was gone?” I joked.

“Why is everything you own so plain and boring?” Lydia asked me. “Don’t you have anything even a little more sexy? I can’t send you off on a date looking like a middle-aged librarian who lives with her cats.” I snorted. Lydia opened my underwear drawer, and started going through its contents. “Where’s your lingerie? I know you own at least a couple of those, since we bought them together.”

“I threw those away,” I confessed. “Along with everything else that reminded me of Michael.”

Lydia stopped in her tracks, and stared at me, wide-eyed. “I... wasn’t expecting that. It’s a shame, though, you would have looked hot in them.”

I shrugged. I never particularly cared for lingerie, it had been just one more of Michael’s petty requests I ended up going along with. Still, I had to admit Lydia had a fair point. When it came to clothing, I always went for practical rather than sexy or pretty. My clothes were good for stuff like going to uni, but they didn’t quite make the cut for more special occasions, like dates.

“We’re just going to the movies, Ly, it’s not like I’m taking her to a hotel.”

“Okay, but you have to promise me we’re going shopping for lingerie again. As for the rest of your clothes, fortunately, I came prepared.”

Lydia dashed to the living room, picked up most of her bags from the couch, then came back and emptied their contents on the bed. They were all clothes, some of which I had already seen Lydia wearing, others looked brand new.

“I brought some stuff that I thought might suit you. Try these shorts.”

I wrinkled my forehead. “I can’t wear shorts to the theater, I’m going to freeze in there.”

“Can’t be helped, Hannah, I want you to show your legs today.”

I smirked. Maybe letting Lydia help me get dressed was a mistake, this was getting a little out of hand. “Then give me the denim dress instead,” I said, pointing at one of the other clothes Lydia had brought, “I think I can pair that with tights, at least that’ll help keep me warm.”

Lydia laughed. “Yes, definitely,” she said, handing me the dress. “I’ve never seen you in tights before, I didn’t even know you had any.”

“I had to wear them to a wedding, once.”

“Oh, I think I remember that. Your cousin’s, right? Last year. Do you still have that rose dress?” Lydia asked.

“That was rented,” I explained. I dug inside the drawer for some generic underwear, and for the pair of tights that I knew I had stashed somewhere in the back. “Umm... some privacy, please?”

Lydia scoffed. “We’ve seen each other naked before, Hannah, why are you acting bashful now?”

“Because we were children, back then, and now we’re not. Get out, please.”

Lydia shrugged, and walked outside, closing the door behind her as she went. I hung up the towel and started to put on the clothes. The denim dress fit me surprisingly well. It was the right length for me, which doesn’t often happen, seeing I’m somewhat taller than most girls. It looked good with the black tights, too. And since denim looked casual, I could ditch the heels in favor of my more comfy navy-blue flats.

I searched inside my jewelry box for a small golden necklace, and earrings to match. I considered putting my hair up in a bun, which is what I always do so that it doesn’t get in the way of whatever I’m doing, but looking at myself in the mirror, I actually found out my moody hair looked rather good down, that day, so I just left it that way.

When she walked back into the bedroom, Lydia’s jaw dropped.

“Oh, wow...” she said. “This... looks way better than I expected. Were you always this gorgeous?”

I shook my head, embarrassed. “So, what do you think?”

“Twirl,” she commanded, and I did it. “Yep, this is perfect,” she said, giving me a thumbs-up. “You should dress up like this more often. The black tights are pretty sexy.”

I felt my cheeks heat up a little, hearing her say that.

“Now, come on,” said Lydia. “This was quick, but I still need to do your makeup.”

I nodded, and went to sit by the dressing table. Lydia brought a chair from the living room, and opened the blinds to get more light in the room. I waited in silence as Lydia worked. It was interesting to watch. What little I knew about makeup I had learned watching youtube tutorials, whereas Lydia had trained with professional beauticians in the past, so half of the time I wasn’t entirely sure what she was doing.

She smiled at me. “You know, I always thought it was lucky that we have such similar skin tones. My foundation and powder both match your skin. Now close your eyes and stay still for a moment.”

Makeup took at least forty minutes. The sun had already set by the time Lydia told me she was done. I swung around to look at the mirror, and was a little shocked with how pretty I looked. Was that even still myself? Pro beauticians really are on a whole different league, aren’t they?

“It’s perfect,” I said, a little daunted.

“I know,” said Lydia, cheekily. “Amelia’s gonna fall for you all over again when she sees you like that.”

I smiled. “Thanks, Ly.”

“No problem, bestie. But hey, remember you promised to go out with me to buy lingerie, okay? And damn, you look great in tights. Now I kinda wanna see you in stockings and a garter belt.”

“Lydia!” I protested.

“What?” she chuckled. “It’s not my fault that you look so hot you’re making me question my sexuality.”

I felt my cheeks heating up, and turned around, embarrassed. “You’re unbelievable,” I told her. Lydia only laughed.